Acupuncture has made cancer patients lessen the pain and discomfort from chemotherapy.
It’s the last thing a child wants — a needle, actually multiple needles. But a young cancer patient says it’s exactly the shot she needs to get through treatment.
Kahla Harper, Cancer Patient: “The first couple of times, you don’t want to do it at all.”
Kahla Harper recalls the first time she went through chemotherapy.
Paul Kent, Pediatric Oncologist, Rush University Medical Center: “In general, kids handle it, chemotherapy and radiation, better than adults on the one hand. On the other hand, we give much higher doses than our adult counterparts and much more intense therapies.”
And it takes a toll … in the form of anxiety, nausea and fatigue. Then after months of treatment Kahla’s bone cancer spread to her lungs. Now she needs more chemo. But this time doctors suggested something new.
Kahla Harper: “Get poked and prodded with enough so it was like, now I’m gonna volunteer myself to get poked and prodded.”
But after a little prodding and some educating, Kahla decided to try acupuncture.
Kahla Harper: “I didn’t jump off the table like I thought I would.”
Side effects of cancer treatment are the main reason adults run away. Acupuncture is proven in studies to help ease the experience. So now at Rush University Medical Center, they are trying it on kids.
Angela Johnson, Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Rush Cancer Integrative Medicine Program: “Without a doubt acupuncture, at the very least, helps patients feel more relaxed, less stressed and less anxious.”
Kahla Harper: “I felt really good afterwards. I can’t explain the feeling but it was kinda like ‘whooo.’ Like you feel not so stressed out, not so worried about things.”